Microsoft: No More Free Xbox 360 Live Arcade Games
Published by Josh Foster September 17th, 2006 in Uncategorized, Gaming, Microsoft, Xbox 360, PP.
When Microsoft first released Texas Hold ‘em for Xbox 360’s Live Arcade, there was a 48 hours window in which XBLA members could download the full version free of charge with no strings attached. And that resulted in a record-breaking day for LiveMarketplace, with over 100 downloads per minute in the first 24 hours of the titles release. The game wasn’t even particularly embraced by the media, with Gamespot saying the title “does the barest of bare minimums to make a playable game of Xbox Live Arcade poker,” but the promotion still made it a huge success.
Microsoft doesn’t plan to repeat the formula.
In an interview with Podtacular, Live’s Aaron Greenberg gave the distinct impression that the promotion was a one time shot and that there were no plans to repeat it. Greenberg was asked point blank, “Are there going to be more opportunities to download games free within the first 48 hours such as Poker?
Poker was a huge hit, we had more downloads in the first 24 hours than any other item ever on Marketplace. That is a pretty big deal, given all the big demos and videos that have been up from some major franchises. But, to be honest this is not part of a long term strategy for us, it costs a lot of money to build these games and I am sure a number of people that downloaded it for free would have been willing to pay for it. Think of this as something we did as a thank you to the community for their support. Otherwise, all new Arcade will continue to have a free trial that everyone can download.
Portable Planet does not particularly agree with the decision, but we’ll abide by it. Especially since we have no choice in the matter.
I agree with MS on this one. As much as I’d like more content to be free, I recognize the author’s right to make money on their products. However, Texas Hold’em was touted as being free from it’s announcement back in Dec ‘05 or so it was to be expected.
I’m glad I got it for fee because this game is not worth 800 points.
kudos to MS on a good marketing strategy, its nice to say thanks every now and then, but I think its wrong to close the door on freebies. C’mon MS good PR is good PR.
I personally think they are a bunch of idiots. That garbage game cost next to nothing to produce. The graphics suck and the AI is half retarded. It’s simply amazing that Microsoft, a multi-billion dollar company, will lie to your face like that. Lost money? Ya right! A ‘Thank You’ to loyal gamers? Are you kidding me? The download was free and I’m still un-impressed. PS… To Microsoft: No one would have paid for that nonsense when you can get free internet poker games that look a thousand times better and play a thousand times better. Deuce.
Microsoft you rock! Yeah, I wouldn’t have payed a single microsoft point for the game, but now that I have the game(texas hold’em) several of my friends (casual gamers) enjoy endless hours of fun. It gives me a selling point for my 360, like Microsoft is so sweet not only do they lose money on every 360 sold, but they also give out free games and content on the marketplace. In my mind everything since the launch has been a tremendous success. My problem with Microsoft is that there are “too many” great games. I don’t have money to buy them all, but I wish I could. I currently have 7 games for my 360 and 6 arcade titles, but this Christmas there are 4 amazing shooters coming out and I will have to choose between Call of Duty 3, Gears of War, and FEAR. The fear demo was amazing, but I have to go for Gears because of my great love for “CliffyB”